Cutting attachment for sewing thimble



[386- 1956 E. o. GRlBBLE CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR sswmc mmsw Filed July 9, 1954 INVENTOR.

ERNEST o. GRlBBLE ATTORNEY United vStates Patent O 2,774,978 CUITING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING THIMBLE Ernest 0. Gribble, Akron, Ohio Application July 9, 1954, Serial No. 442,319 3 Claims. (Cl. 7--14.5)

This invention relates to a thread cutting attachment for a thimble.

Heretofore, sewing thimbles have been provided with various means for cutting threads, but these have been generally unsatisfactory for various reasons, such as that the cutting means provided, either as integral or separate parts of the thimble, have been ineffectual or have tended to snag cloth material being sewed, or garments of the person sewing. Separate cutting attachments have been unsatisfactory because they were unsecure on the thimble.

One object of the invention is to provide an extremely simple cutting attachment for a thimble, which is easily applied to the usual beaded rim thereof in such a manner that the device will not turn or slip on the thimble while a thread is being cut thereon, and which cannot readily be dislodged from the thimble, at least without use of substantial force.

Another object of the invention is to provide a thread cutter for thimbles which will be adjustable to fit thimbles of substantially varying sizes.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved thread cutting attachment of the character described, which has no sharp cutting edges or ends exposed to cause damage by snagging cloth or wearing apparel or to injure the flesh of the user.

These and other objects of the invention will be manifest from the following brief description and the accompanying drawing.

Of the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a plan view, greatly enlarged, of a thread cutting attachment embodying the features of the invention, the same being shown attached to the annular bead portion or rim of a thimble.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, on the same enlarged scale, as viewed from the left of Figure 1, the thimble being shown partly broken away and in chaindotted lines.

Figure 3 is a cross-section, on the same scale, taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure l, but with the thimble omitted.

Referring to the drawings generally, the numeral 10 designates a split annulus of springy material, such as spring steel, having concavo-convex transverse cross-section, the concave inner portion of which is adapted to be complemental to the transverse cross-sectional shape of the usual radially outwardly presented rounded bead portion 11 of a sewing thimble 12, of the type seamstresses apply to the middle finger of the hand. The annulus may be of smaller inside diameter than the rounded outer peripheral portion of the thimble head portion 11, so that by use of manual force the annulus may be yieldingly expanded over the bead portion to grip tenaceously and non-rotatably thereto with the opposing ends 13 and 14 of the annulus substantially spaced apart, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Both ends 13 and 14 of annulus 10 may have smoothly rounded tips 15 and 16, respectively, to obviate likli- 2,774,978 Patented Dec. 25, 1956 ice hood of the same becoming snagged on clothing or on material being worked upon.

The end portion 14 may be outturned substantially tangental to the periphery of the annulus, and the convex inner surface 17 of the outturned portion, at a point slightly inwardly of the rounded tip 16, may be hollow ground to provide opposite sharp edges 18, 18, whereby a thread is readily engageable in the bight between outturned portion 14 and the bead 11 of the thimble, for a thread cutting operation.

In use of the improved thread-cutting device, the annulus 10 is non-rotatably afiixed to a standard thimble 12 by yieldingly expanding the same over the usual beaded rim 11 of the thimble, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this condition the outturned cutter end 14 of the annulus, in the actual or full scale size thereof, is relatively unobstrusive, the same being spaced just sufficiently from the bead 11 of the thimble to permit a thread to be looped around said end 14, whereby the thread is easily cut on one of the cutter edges 18.

The annulus is adapted to be further adjusted to thimble beads 11 of substantially varying sizes by forcibly changing the given diameter of the annulus in known manner.

If desired, the end portion 13 may also be outturned and provided with cutting edges, in the same way as the end portion 14 (see Figures 1 and 3).

Other modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A thread cutting attachment for a thimble of the type having an integral annular rib adjacent an open end thereof, comprising a split annulus of resilient metal and having inner peripheral portions of cross-sectional shape complementally engageable with said rib of the thimble to aflix the annulus to the thimble against longitudinal movementthereon, said annulus having opposed end portions defined by said split thereof, at least one of said end portions being turned outwardly for receiving a thread between the same and the corresponding rib portion of the thimble, said outwardly turned portion having a sharp edged portion engageable by the thread to cut the same, said annulus being expandible over said rib of the thimble against the resiliency of the material thereof.

2. A thread cutting attachment for a thimble of the type having an integral annular rib, adjacent an open end thereof, comprising a split annulus having inner peripheral portions of shape complementally engageable with said rib of the thimble to affix the annulus to the thimble against longitudinal movement thereon, said annulus having opposed end portions defined by said split thereof, at least one of said end portions being turned outwardly for receiving a thread between the same and the corresponding rib portion of the thimble, said outwardly turned portion having a sharp edged portion engageable by the thread to cut the same, said opposed end portions at the extreme ends thereof being smoothly rounded to be substantially without exposed sharp edges, said annulus being of springy material and thereby being yieldingly engageable over a said rib of a thimble.

3. A thread cutting attachment for a thimble of the type having an integral annular rib of rounded cross section presented radially outwardly of the thimble adjacent an open end thereof, comprising a split annulus of concavo-convex transverse cross-section and thereby having concave inner peripheral portions of shape complementally engageable with said rounded rib of the thimble to atnx the annulus to the thimble against longitudinal movement thereon, said annulus having opposed end portions defined by said vsplit thereof, at least one of said end portions being turned outwardly for receiving a thread between the same and the corresponding rib portion of the thimble, said outwardly turned portion having a sharp edged portion engageable by the thread to cut the same, said annulus being of springy material and thereby being yieldingly engageable over a said rib of .a thimble.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

